Thursday, June 30, 2016

I had a few melamine shelves laying around and I decided to upcycle them to a scrap bin for my shop. The bin's design is something like an extruded hexagon. That kind of shape is fairly easy to make and it's space efficient.

Each side of the hexagon must have a 60 degree bevel. To do that I tilted the blase of my table saw at 30 degrees.

I cut the bevels in both sides of all my boards. This way, when to boards are united, they create a 120 degree angle. A hexagon has 6 120 degree angles.

I joined my boards using glue and biscuits. I used my biscuit joiner yo create the slots on all boards. Before that I marked all my pieces so I knew which board goes where.

I glued the sides in 3 pairs first. After the pairs where dry I glued them all together. Clamping was tricky at that point, so I used a few ring clamps to hold everything together.

I then cut a piece of melamine on the band saw to create the bottom of my bin.

I screwed it in place after first making pilot holes. I used my flush trim saw to cut it flush with the sides of the bin.

I also screwed 4 wheels in place.

I then used my band saw to cut a piece of plywood for the bin’s top. To cut the inside piece I made entry holes on my drill press and cut the inside with my scroll saw. I cut that flange a bit bigger than I had to.

I nailed it temporarily in place. I used a flush trim bit on my router and trimmed the flange flush with the rest of the bin.

I then secured the flange in place with screws. I predrilled and counter sinked the holes before adding the screws.

I filled gaps and imperfections with wood filler. After it dried I sanded everything with a sanding block.

I then designed a handle on a piece of plywood and cut it out on the band saw. I used the first handle as a guide to make another one.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

I wanted to make a picture frame, using the table saw as my primary tool.

I used spruce and walnut for this project.

I begun by ripping a 2x4 to size using my table saw. I used an 8mm piece of plywood to measure the height of my blade using a caliper. After I adjusted the height of my blade I created a groove on my picture frame’s sides.

I moved the fence over a couple of times and I repeated the cut. This way I extended my groove to size. I also used a chisel, to clean up a few miss cuts of the blade.

To created the miters for the corners using my miter sled. I also marked which miter matches which, because this procedure might get a bit confusing.

I applied glue to the joints, and used my picture frame clamp to glue the frame together.

I used my spline jig to make cuts in the corners for the splines. I ripped a piece of walnut to size. I planed it down to size, using my block plane upside down on a vise. I cut the splines to size with my cross cut sled and a stop block.

The splines where now ready to be glued in place. They have to fit snugly, so I used a mallet to force them in place.

While the glue dried, I used my cross cut sled again, to cut a piece of laminated MDF for my picture frame’s back.

I used a glass cutter and a ruler to cut a piece of glass for my frame. I also sanded it’s edges a little bit.

At this point I cut the splines flush, using my flush trim saw.

The splines act both as reinforcements and as a decorative element. The miters are end grain to end grain glued together, which is not a strong joint. That is why we use the spines. It is nice to use contrasting woods for the frame and the splines. This way the splines look nicer.

I used my block plane to round over the edges of my frame.

I made a quick and dirty sanding block. I just stapled a piece of sandpaper on a scrap plywood piece.

I sanded the piece.

I applied three coats of water based clear satin finish to the frame. I sanded between coats.

I made two closings on the bandsaw. I made countersinked holes on them on my drill press.

Monday, June 13, 2016

I am moving to a new shop and I had to rearrange my stuff to fit the new one. In the old shop I had two old IKEA bookcases made of melamine.

To save space, I thought it would be a cool idea to convert those cases to a hanging shelf. This way I still can fill them with a bunch of stuff but I can use the floor space for something else.

First of all I disassembled the bookcases.

Then I used my circular saw with a guide rail, to cut the carcass pieces to size.

I then used my 90 degree corner clamps, to keep the sides in place, while I predrilled pilot holes and screwed them in place.

I then used again my circular saw to cut the pieces for the spacers. On the spares I cut out a piece in order for the french cleat to sit it.I made that cut on the bandsaw. I used the first piece to mark the others.

After I fitted the spacers in place, I used my square to make sure that they sit straight. I added a clamp to secure them and screwed them in place.

I then used my table saw to cut a strip of melamine. I tilted the blade of the table saw to 45 degrees and cut the strip in half. This is my French cleat.

I screwed one piece of the cleat on my shelf. I created countersinked holes on the other part using my drill press.

I drilled holes on the wall and hammered in a few upats.

I screwed the cleat on the wall.

At this point I lifted the shelf and joined the two pieces of the cleat together.

With this hanging method you can secure really heavy objects on the wall.